National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; acquired through the generosity of Fred M. Levin and Nancy Livingston, the Shenson Foundation, in memory of Ben and A. Jess Shenson; 2015 Portrait of a Nation Prize Recipient

Although his memory of the incident was erased, after-action reports confirmed that on November 21, 2010, in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province, the young lance corporal William “Kyle” Carpenter saved the life of a fellow Marine by using his own body to shield him from an exploding grenade. The grievously wounded Carpenter was not expected to survive, but after more than thirty surgeries and two-and-a-half years at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, he was released in July 2013. In recognition of his “undaunted courage, bold fighting spirit, and unwavering devotion to duty in the face of almost certain death,” Carpenter received the nation’s highest military award for valor—the Medal of Honor—in 2014. Medically retired because of his injuries, Carpenter remains active on issues concerning wounded and returning veterans.

In the first of these two images, Carpenter holds his Purple Heart medal in his right hand. In the second, his Purple Heart tattoo is visible, as are some of the scars he now carries.